Angel of Music
by BLiberalQuestionAuthority
Summary: One shot-The girls get back from seeing The Phantom of the Opera, and loved it. But Serena's not acting like her normals self. Can Darien figure out what's wrong, and help her back to her normal, bouncy self?


"That was the greatest thing I've ever seen!" Mina gushed loudly, as she entered the Crown Arcade. It was late Saturday night, and Mina, Lita, Amy, Rei, and Serena had just come back from the Tokyo Theater. They had been at the première of The Phantom of the Opera, which had come from Broadway to Tokyo, and the girls could not stop raving about it. All, that is, accept for Serena, who hung at the back of the group as they walked through the sliding glass doors. The girls, decked out in beautiful dresses and jewelry of their respective colors, were a sight to behold, though there were few to see them at 11 pm. One or two patrons were still playing on the video games, but the only others there were Andrew behind the counter, and Darien in front of it. The girls sat down in their favorite booth, right behind Darien, and continued their chatter.

"Yah, the costumes were great," Amy sighed, fingering the small silver and sapphire chain around her neck. "I wish I had dresses and stuff like they had."

"Dresses?" Lita scoffed. "Who cares about dresses when you have such hot GUYS on stage!" Little hearts appeared in her eyes at the thought of the eye candy that she had spent most of the night ogling. "I mean, I can't decide who I liked better. The Phantom, or Raoul." Rei raised an eyebrow.

"But the Phantom had a distorted face!"

"So?" Lita asked. "He didn't AFTER the show, and you know he was HOTT with a double T!" Lita fanned herself with a napkin she grabbed out of its metal container.

"You totally missed the point of the story," Serena mumbled in agitation under her breath. Serena was slumped in her seat in the booth, her luminescent pearl-colored dress piled in around her. She stared out the window, watching the cars go by, and the lights of the city at night.

"Serena?" Andrew asked cautiously, as he came up to ask for the girls' orders. He had heard the conversation, and Serena was not acting at all like herself. Serena just continued to stare out the window.

"It was about the music." She said softly. "It was about finding the beauty in people that can't always be seen with the eyes. It's the idea that love can make you forgive even the worst of grievances. It's about forgetting about the past, and the darkness inside people, and learning to love them anyway. And if someone can't learn to love them, it's about being strong enough to love that person, and let them go."

"Since when did you become so insightful?" Rei asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Christine didn't even love the Phantom in the end. Or she would have gone with him."

"She loved him," Darien commented, his back still towards the group. The girls and Andrew turned to him, as he swung around on the stool. "She just needed more that he could give her. She needed her freedom." Darien looked almost pained at this thought, and turned back around, but not before casting a glance at Serena, who was still staring out of the window.

"Well, on THAT cheery note," Andrew jumped in, trying to lighten the mood with a perky voice, "Why don't you guys tell us about the music! Even sing us a little?" He grinned, and nudged Mina and poked Rei, the two self-proclaimed singers of the group.

"Why not, Rei?" Mina got up, her dress clung to her body as she got herself up, and pulled Rei along with her. The two stood up, and, after a few seconds of deliberation, started singing. Rei sang the part of Raoul, and Mina sang for Christine.

When they had finished their little rendition of "Little Lotte," the rest of the girls, and Andrew, clapped. But Darien remained silent. Rei and Mina sat down, and the girls ordered a milkshake each. For the next hour, milkshakes were sipped, and conversation commenced, all the while Serena stared out the window. Finally, the girls each left, walking home in pairs for safety, even if they WERE Sailor Scouts. Serena sat alone in the booth, still staring out of the window as Andrew finished cleaning up for the night.

"Hey man," Andrew came over to his best friend. Darien looked up from his newspaper. "Can you walk Serena home? She seems kinda out of it." 'But then again, so do you,' he thought in the back of his mind. Darien had been quiet since the girl had come in, and hadn't teased Serena once. Something had to be done to snap the two out of their stooper.

"Sure," was his only response. Darien got up, leaving a few bills on the counter, and walked over to Serena, where he guided her out of the sliding doors without her even really knowing what was happening. For blocks, the two walked in silence, the only noise coming from the pair being the clicking sound of Serena's heels. Suddenly, Darien was able to catch a few notes of a song that Serena seemed to be unconsciously singing under her breath. The words became clearer as her voice became louder, and Darien was amazed at Serena's voice.

"Father once spoke of an angel,

I used to dream he'd appear,

Now as I sing I can sense him,

And I know he's here.

Here in this room he calls me softly,

Somewhere inside...hiding.

Somehow I know, he's always with me,

He's the unseen genius.

Angel of music,

Guide and Guardian,

Grant to me you glory!

Angel of music,

Hide no longer,

secret and strange angel

He's with me even now."

Her voice reminded him of silver bells and the tinkling of fine crystals, a perfect soprano that could sing anything and give the words wings. Nothing like the voices of Mina and Rei, who, he had wanted to tell them, should stick to bubbly pop songs, and not the sublime music of the theater. When they finally reached Serena's home, the two stood outside, until Serena finally broke the silence that had radiated since her singing had stopped. She turned to Darien, and said,

"Darien, do you think I'll ever be like Christen?" She asked. Darien looked at her curiously. "I mean," she looked down at her feet in embarrassment, "Do you think that I'll ever inspire a man to create such wondrous works of art as the Phantom created?" She looked up at Darien, hope shining in her eyes. "Will I ever be worthy of someone's undying love?" Darien looked down into her cerulean eyes, his own filled with nothing but honesty.

"I KNOW, Serena, that you already have, and already are, Serena," he said, thinking of the sheets of music scattered about on his floor at home, the unfinished paintings on their easels, and the sketches that adorned each and every notebook he owned. Every creative outlet he knew of had beckoned him to create homage to HER, and so he had complied. Serena smiled, her eyes watering, crystal tears that would not fall formed in the corners of her eyes.

Darien watched Serena's face, knowing that he had just given her hope to go on, as if she had given up on life, but now had found purpose. He couldn't have known that Serena's dreams had turned from the happiness of having a wonderful prince, to the darkness of death, and the failings of the moon kingdom. He could not have known that she had slowly been drifting into oblivion. With one simple, truthful statement, he had brought her back from the brink. Serena's smile didn't fade as she turned to go into her house. But Darien could not control himself. He called out to her.

"Serena?" She turned to him, stopping about halfway up the front steps. "Do you see me as more of a Raoul, or more like the Phantom?" He could then not stop the words from flowing. "And who would you rather have gone with, if you were Christen?" Why he asked, he did not know. A slip of the tongue left his heart open for her to crush, or to cultivate like the precious rose that it was. Serena's small smile grew loving, as the crystal tears that she had been holding back slipped down her face.

"You, Darien, are the Phantom. You pour yourself into the things you love to take your focus off of other things, and you try and stay out of the limelight, though you deserve to be in it. You also hurt those around you," She said sadly, "even though you care about them, and don't mean to. You have a darkness in you, that needs to find the light of love." Darien looked down, unbelieving that this insight had come from Serena, though he knew that this profound sense had been inside of her for ever. Serena had come down the stairs, and now stood right in front of Darien. She now lifted his chin, so he looked right into her eyes.

"But know this, Darien. I would have gone with the Phantom. I would have gone with YOU." His shock clearly painted his face, but Darien could not look away. "Everyone needs a little darkness, and everyone needs a little light. You are my darkness, I am your light. And even though, like Christen, I need my freedom, I would gladly give it up for you, if only would ask." And with that, Serena kissed Darien softly on the lips, and walked gracefully up the stairs, and into her house. Darien touched his lips where his angel of light had just given him the greatest gift he had ever, and would ever receive. Her love.

"Serena." He said softly, "You have passed the point of no return. And tomorrow, you are mine. And I am forever yours." Darien took one last glance at Serena's window, just as the light flickered off. He turned and walked away, his stance straight, tall, and filled with the knowledge that he was not along. Alone in her room, Serena watched his retreating figure until he was out of sight. Her dreams that night would have nothing to do with the darkness that had destroyed the Moon Kingdom of old, but instead were filled with the images of a man of darkness and a woman of light dancing in their own little world. Dancing to the music of the night.


End file.
